Cornish Game Hen Recipe plus Orange and Rosemary

This Cornish game hen recipe is reliable for Easter or any other occasion! The bright flavors of the orange, sherry, and rosemary will have everyone wanting more.

Raise your hand if you eat ham every single Easter. We bet a lot of you are raising your hands. As much as we love ham (especially this five ingredient slow cooker maple dijon ham), we think there comes a time for mixing it up a little.

What stands out

• Approachable: If you’re intimidated by the thought of preparing a Cornish hen, don’t be! It’s simple. If you can cook chicken, you can cook Cornish game hen.
• Impressive and flavorful: Blow your family and friends away with this beautiful Cornish game hen recipe. They’ll be impressed, but more importantly, their taste buds will be satisfied with the bright citrus of the orange and the savory pine notes of the rosemary.

How it comes together

This recipe looks impressive but in reality is quite straightforward to mix. Those are our favorite kind of recipes. As always, scroll down for the complete and printable recipe card.

Prep the Cornish hens. First, remove the giblets. If you like giblets, you could make giblet gravy or a from-scratch stock. Give the Cornish hens a little massage with olive oil. That helps them get crispy beautiful brown skin. Season them, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Put them into a roasting pan large enough to accommodate the hens side by side.

Add oranges and onions. Place one orange wedge and one sprig of rosemary inside each hen. Arrange the remaining orange wedges, unpeeled, and a quartered onion around the hens in the roasting pan.

Roast. Start with a high temperature, 450°F for 25 minutes, to get the Cornish hens going and to caramelize the onions and the oranges.

Reduce oven temperature. Turn the oven down to 350°F, and add the sherry, chicken broth, and mustard to the pan to keep the hens moist, and to add terrific flavor during the remainder of the cooking time. Baste every 10 to 15 minutes to bathe the hens in the great flavor of the broth and to keep them from drying out.

Check internal temperature. Once the hens have roasted for 45 minutes, check the internal temperature to make sure they’re done. We like to use an instant read thermometer. Insert it into the thickest part of the hens.

Serve. Remove the Cornish hens from the pan, put them on a platter, and tent them with foil to keep warm. Reduce the juices in the pan over high heat to make a nice sauce. Enjoy!

Serving tips

Try serving Cornish hens with slow cooker mashed potatoes, zucchini rice casserole (also bakes at 350!), sauteed parsnips with white wine and thyme, or green beans with lemon and feta.